SP-350 meets blue water

[RTW]

We spent last week in Bonaire and I got to try out my SP-350/YS-110 in blue water for the first time.
I ended up with a lot of bad pictures and a few decent ones.
The MyMode presets I found here did ok some of the time but were overexposing much of the time.
I ended up using the presets but manipulating shutter speed (to not always good effect) for most shots.
Also, I became very impatient with the slow RAW write time (though Lightroom white balance editing was convenient with RAW) and ended up shooting JPG after two or three dives.

Some of the lessons learned in no particular order:
1. Underwater photography is not easy
1. I love taking pictures underwater
1. Strobe placement is everything
1. Composition is everything (and difficult to get right)
1. Fish are not cooperative subjects
1. I have a lot to learn

Scorpion Fish

Anemone

Rock Hind

Eel

Banded Coral Shrimp

Coral

Wreck

Lovely Flying Wife

Wishing you and yours the happiest of holidays,

 

[fairybasslet]

Some of the lessons learned in no particular order:
1. Underwater photography is not easy
1. I love taking pictures underwater
1. Strobe placement is everything
1. Composition is everything (and difficult to get right)
1. Fish are not cooperative subjects
1. I have a lot to learn

Yep. I agree with all of them.

 

[deeper thoughts]

Nice pix

 

[ScubaSteve]

.....Some of the lessons learned in no particular order:
1. Underwater photography is not easy
1. I love taking pictures underwater
1. Strobe placement is everything
1. Composition is everything (and difficult to get right)
1. Fish are not cooperative subjects
1. I have a lot to learn

I agree as well. I have been doing underwater "photography" (if you can call my stuff that ) but it is challenging. I especially agree with number 1

By the way, I love the shot of the Scorpion Fish. It took me a second to find it....even seeing the fin did not show me the fish right away (duh!)

 

[Larry C]

Looks to me like you did fine! I L-O-V-E the second one! Terrific lighting and you got the timing perfect with the Xmas trees open. Great DOF shot on the Blenny in the Coral, too, with good focus on the Blenny. I found that in tropical settings, 1/125@f6.3-f8 works for wide shots at shallow depth. I can't use anything like that around here in our dark green water. The other thing is, make sure the Sun is behind you to avoid the overexposure issues. Great start. Don't expect all your pictures to be worth saving. If you get 5 or 6 really good ones on a dive, you're doing fine.
Remember, other people's settings only work on other people's dives. After the first dive at a new place, I always check my shots and adjust my settings accordingly.

 

[diverrex]

Nice shots, thanks for sharing. UW photography isn't easy, as Larry said 5-6 decent shots a dive is not bad. And it's funny how it works out. Sometimes I get a cooperative subject and maybe take 10+ shots, time to compose, review & adjust settings, shoot again, repeat. I'm convinced I must have at least one good shot then I get up above and I'm not happy with any of them. Other times you get one quick shot at a subject and it turns out great.

I probably dive equally between tropic-hi viz and cold water-low viz locations (meaning not often enough at either). While the settings I use between the two are not wildly different it's definately a challenge getting light in low viz water, so in low viz the strobes get turned up higher and shutter speed slows down. But even at the same location conditions change slightly day to day, even dive to dive due to light and viz. I usually take a few photos as soon a I descend, of anything, a rock if need be, then I review and adjust accordingly for that dive. Of course minor adjustments still need done, for overhangs, a cloud is passing above, certain subjects, etc. But I usually find once I find the right setting for the conditons that dive the settings usually only change a little for each shot.

 

[RTW]

Thanks for the helpful and encouraging comments.

The 5-6 works out about right. I took photos on 15 of 16 dives with an average of 75+/- photos per dive and ended up with 112 photos in my "Best" folder.
(The keeper-number was significantly lower than that the two previous trips when I was shooting a strobe-less Canon Powershot S230, so I'm not complaining.)

That we can share a small part of the underwater world with those that have never experienced it is a wonderful thing,

 

[ScubaSteve]

Thanks for the helpful and encouraging comments.

The 5-6 works out about right. I took photos on 15 of 16 dives with an average of 75+/- photos per dive and ended up with 112 photos in my "Best" folder.
(The keeper-number was significantly lower than that the two previous trips when I was shooting a strobe-less Canon Powershot S230, so I'm not complaining.)

That we can share a small part of the underwater world with those that have never experienced it is a wonderful thing,

Not a hard and fast number but funny how it does tend to work out in the beginning. I was in Bonaire last year and took 1170 pictures and short videos (only about 20 videos) and kept about 60 plus the videos. I was in Bonaire again this year and took way fewer due to Tropical Storm Omar and kept less than 30 due to system issues.

 

[fairybasslet]

Sometimes I get a cooperative subject and maybe take 10+ shots, time to compose, review & adjust settings, shoot again, repeat. I'm convinced I must have at least one good shot then I get up above and I'm not happy with any of them. Other times you get one quick shot at a subject and it turns out great.

Ain't that the truth!! In Wakatobi, the guide found a juvie batfish. I took 2 or 3 shots then let the others in my group have turns. On another dive, I was between the 2 groups and found one on my own. My group was way ahead of me and I couldn't get anyone's attention, so I had the subject to myself for maybe 10 or so shots. Then I signaled to one of the divers in the group behind me and let them have a shot at the subject while I caught up to my group. Don't you know that I hated all of the ones that I took the second time and the best one was one I fired off quickly when the guide spotted it.?

 

[TheUWPhotographer.com]

It seems no matter how many shots I take, the first one is usually the best one. I'm not sure if that's good or bad!

I have a demo SP-350 with the "upgraded" TTL bulkhead, so my students can use it with my Ikelite DS-125 strobe for TTL shooting. My Inon strobes work very well with that camera too. If you don't have a TTL bulkhead or converter you'll likely become a more disciplined shooter. I do get lazy when I shoot TTL, but nothing is easier on a night dive.

I totally agree with you about the slowness of shooting RAW, but if you're still not getting good exposures, its worth the wait. If you use Lightroom, Photoshop or just about any RAW converter you can usually bring back the detail in blown out highlights or plugged up shadows and save a shot that jpg compression might ruin.

RTW you did excellent! The SP-350 can be a challenge, but it looks like you've really nailed it. Nice job!!